Company bans sale of its drug propofol for the purpose of lethal injections

One of the world’s biggest makers of the anaesthetic propofol has barred its sale for the purpose of lethal injections, as US states that still have the death penalty face growing problems obtaining drugs for executions.

Fresenius Kabi USA has written to healthcare providers to tell them that its propofol would be supplied only to an approved list of selected wholesalers and distributors who agreed not to sell it on to any correctional facilities or even to retail pharmacies or other distributors.

The ban followed a decision by the state of Missouri to move to a one drug protocol using propofol alone for lethal injections, in place of the three drug protocol that had been used by most death penalty states. Missouri took the decision, which other states were also considering, after supplies of thiopental sodium, one of the three drugs, dried up. 1

Some states switched to pentobarbital in place of thiopental in their three drug protocol, but supplies of that drug have also dried up as manufacturers refuse to supply it for use in lethal injections.2

Scott Meacham, executive vice president of Fresenius Kabi USA, said in the letter that use in lethal injections was contrary to the US Food and Drug Administration approved indications for the drug and “inconsistent with Fresenius Kabi’s mission of ‘Caring for life’.”

He said the company had an obligation to protect the supply of the drug, one of the most widely used anaesthetics, to patients and healthcare facilities where its use is medically necessary.

Fresenius Kabi’s headquarters are in Germany, and he pointed out that the company’s propofol is manufactured in the European Union, which has a regulation banning the export of any product that may reasonably be expected to be used in executions. “Should propofol begin to be used in executions in the US and should the EU commission place propofol on its list of export restricted substances under the anti-torture regulation, it could severely restrict US access to the drug.”

The legal action charity Reprieve, which campaigns against the death penalty, is urging companies to sign its “pharmaceutical Hippocratic oath” and pledge to keep their drugs from being used to kill.

Maya Foa, head of Reprieve’s lethal injection project, said: “Fresenius Kabi has gone to unprecedented lengths to ensure that its medicines are used for the purpose for which they were intended—to improve and save the lives of millions of patients across the US—and not abused in executions. Fresenius Kabi is leading the way in showing how the industry can put a stop to this grotesque abuse of medicines.”